Shoe



March 4,1941. M WINKEL ETAL 2,234,066

SHOE

Filed Feb. 8, 1940 IN VENTOR.

Patented Mar. 4, 1941 UNITED STATES SHOE Mabel Winkel and Charles A. Julianelli, New York, N. Y.

Application February 8, 1940, Serial No. 317,790

4 Claims.

This invention relates to shoes and has for its primary object theprovision of a shoe providing extraordinary wearing comfort.

In all shoes of the conventional construction,

the vamp portion is attached to the sole by stitching or other fasteningmeans extending around the edges of the vamp and securing the same tothe sole adjacent to the edges of the sole. Such an attachment of thevamp portion of the shoe upper to the sole provides a housing for thetoes which while possessing a certain degree of flexibility within theconfines of the stitching or fastening means extending about its edges,nevertheless fails to provide free lateral flexibility to thetoe-enclosing or vamp part of the shoe.

It is to enhance this flexibility that this construction. is intended,and also to provide conformability of the shoe to the toe portion of thefoot, resulting in greater comfort in wear.

More particularly, the invention contemplates the provision of a shoehaving a vamp portion attached to the sole or to the insole andsocklining by one or more lines of stitching extending along or adjacentto the longitudinal center line of the shoe. Such a single-pointattachment of the vamp portion of the shoe provides ready conformabilityof the vamp portion of the shoe to the part of the foot which itencloses. It permits lateral distortion of such portions of the vamp asmay be necessary to enable that portion of the shoe to conformtoirregularities in toe formation, and affords comfort in the toeportion of the shoe heretofore unknown.

In the accompanying drawing forming a part hereof, Fig. 1 is aperspective View of a shoe constructed in accordance with the invention;Fig. 2 is a plan view of the vamp portion of the shoe, showing one meansof attaching the vamp portion to the sole; Fig. 3 is a similar viewshowing the method of attaching the vamp as is disclosed in Fig. 1; Fig.4 is a perspective view of a different style of shoe, showing theinvention incorporated therein; and Fig. 5 is a sectional view on theline 5-5 of Fig. 4.

With reference to the construction shown in Fig. 1, I indicates the soleof the shoe and 2 the heel, the same being of conventional constructionand having its upper face covered by the usual insole M (Fig. 5)enclosed and covered by the sock-lining 3. While the shoes shown in theaccompanying drawing are of novel design, it will be understood that thegeneral design of the shoes disclosed forms no part of the presentinvention, the same relating to the aifixment of the vamp portion of theshoe to the sole.

In the type of shoe shown in Fig. 1, the upper 1 consists primarily ofthe crossed strap portions 4, 5 which co-operate in the formation of atoe-embracing portion 6, which is in the form of a loop and extendscompletely around the front 5 or toe portion of the foot. This toeembracing portion of the shoe is secured solely to the insole andsock-lining at a single central longitudinal line of the shoe by one ormore lines of stitching or other fastening means as indicated at I. Thelocation of the securing stitches 1 is such that the same are disposedat or adjacent the center line of the shoe, so that the entire toeembracing portion of the shoe is, except for this singlepointattachment, free of securement to the sole of the shoe and may thus,without restraint, shape itself readily to the iregularities in theforward portion of the foot.

In the structure shown in Figs. 1 and 3, the toe-embracing portion 6 ofthe shoe is attached to the sole portion by being stitched through thesock-lining 3 and insole Hi. In the modified construction shown in Fig.2 spacedslits 9 are provided in the sock-lining and insole, and the endsof the strap portions 4 and 5 are inserted in said slits and securedtherein by the lines of stitching l0. Any other method of attaching thetoeembracing portion of the shoe to the sole may be employed, providingthat the location of the point or points of attachment of thetoe-embrac- 30 ing portion to the sole be well inwardly toward thecenter line of the shoe so that the major portion of the under surfaceof the foot in the toe-embracing portion of the shoe is free fromattachment to the sole of the shoe. 5

In Fig. 4 another type of shoe is disclosed in which the invention isemployed. Therein the entire upper of the shoe, from the rear end of thesame to the point indicated at H is attached to the sole and heel of theshoe in the conventional way, namely, by attachment of its edges to thesole and heel of the shoe. However, from the point I l forwardly throughthe toe-embracing portion of the shoe, the shoe upper is attached solelyalong its longitudinal center line, as by 45 the lines of stitching I2,thereby providing in a shoe of this type, the conformability of thetoeembracing portion readily attained in the sandal type of Fig. 1.

As heretofore stated, the invention may be readily incorporated in shoesof almost any design, those herein shown being merely illustrative ofseveral designs in which the invention may be utilized and are n& to betaken as limiting the use of the invention to such types of shoes.

Moreover, in herein stating that the toe-embracing portion of the shoeis solely attached tothe sole by single-point attachment, we do not meanto limit the said attachment to the use of V a single line of stitchingextending down the center or medium line of the shoe, but wish this termto include any attachment of the toe-embracing portion to the shoe whichis remote from the edges of the sole so that an appreciable portion ofthe under surface of the foot in the toe portion thereof is not confinedfiatwise against the sole by the restraint of the toe-embracing portionof the shoe.

What we claim is:

1. A shoe having an upper including a toe-em bracing portion, a sole towhich a portion of the upper is attached, the toe-embracing portionhaving the part which extends on the under side of the foot attached tothe sole solely along the central longitudinal line of the sole.

2. A shoe having an upper including a toe-embracing portion, a sole towhich a portion of the upper is conventionally attached, thetoe-embracing portion having the part which extends on the under side ofthe foot attached to the sole only by one or more adjacent lines ofstitching extending adjacent to the central longitudinal line of thesole.

3. In a shoe a sole, an upper attached thereto, said upper including atoe-embracing portion having the part which extends on the under side ofthe foot attached to the sole solely at the center of the toe-embracingportion.

4. A shoe having an upper, a sole to which the upper is secured, saidupper having a toe-embracing portion, stitching extending through thelower part of the toe-embracing portion, and attaching it to the sole,said stitching being located adjacent to the central longitudinal lineof the sole and constituting the sole means of attaching thetoe-embracing portion of the upper to the sole.

MABEL WINKEL. CHARLES A. JULIANELLI.

